New Prospects
by Indigo July
Summary: Sakura never asked for a second chance, but she knows an opportunity when she sees one. Taking upon the monumental task of creating a better future, she manages to capture the attention of a certain Uchiha along the way.
1. Second Impressions

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. And to be quite honest, I wouldn't really want to, especially with the ways things are going now.

Be warned. This chapter (as well as future ones) may contain spoilers that are up to date with the manga.

* * *

"So. Tell me about your favorite things, what you hate most, dreams, ambitions, hobbies. Things like that."

Naruto squinted up at his new teacher and his mouth screwed up in a reluctant pout.

"How about you go first, Kakashi-sensei?" He suggested loudly, "Show us how it's done!"

Kakashi slid his gaze towards the three graduates fresh from the academy. His eyes landed on a myriad of orange, blue, and pink. These were colors which, had some of his fellow jounin seen, would have had them screaming in disapproval. He had been warned ahead of time by the Third Hokage that he would be in possession of the container of the nine-tailed fox, as well as the heir of the Uchiha clan. Not much had been said about the girl, although Kakashi was quick to note (as well as everybody else) that she had abnormally pink hair. It was an interesting mix and he wondered vaguely if this team would become the first to pass his test, or if they were doomed to failure like all the others before them.

"Ah, me?" He stated lazily, "My name is Hatake Kakashi. I'm the kind of person who doesn't talk about his likes or dislikes. My dreams are none of your business, but I do have lots of hobbies..."

Naruto blaunched at his poor description, but at Kakashi's gesture, he started to talk. His introduction consisted mainly of ramen, but Kakashi was briefly impressed by the boy's obvious determination to become Hokage.

_Interesting... _He mused, eyebrows raised.

Kakashi then turned towards the other two, both of whom had remained strangely silent throughout the whole ordeal, and pointed at the Uchiha.

With his hands clasped together in front of his face, the dark-haired boy said in monotone, "I am Uchiha Sasuke. There are a lot of things I hate, and almost nothing that I like. Dreams are nothing, they're just a word. But," His face darkened.

"I plan to restore my clan, as well as find someone that I have sworn to kill."

The pink-haired girl, who had been spending the majority of her time staring listlessly at the ground, jerked her head up to look at Sasuke. She gave him a hard gaze, an act that failed to escape Kakashi's notice. It was understandable, given that the strong declaration was quite unbefitting of a twelve year old boy. He himself gave Sasuke a sharp look.

_I suppose I should've expected nothing less from an Uchiha. _He thought drily.

His eye then crinkled into a half-moon shape and he faced the sole female in the three-man cell.

She lifted her head and looked directly up at him with bright green eyes. Eyes were the windows to the soul; at least, this was what the old adage said. For ninja, this was particularly significant since they were expected to observe everything, to look underneath the underneath. It could reveal a lot of things about a person. This girl was no exception. Her gaze was unwavering, and they were bright with the innocence that only youth could bring. Kakashi mused that she was probably one of those fiery, expressive girls that said everything that came to mind. Yet at odds with that was the caution found in her expression, as well as a brief flash of something else (pain?). This flitting emotion was winked out of existence, however, as she turned her face back towards the ground.

"My name is Haruno Sakura," she said carefully, "I like reading up on new ninjutsu, and one of my favorite things is spending time with the important people in my life." The wind blew hard for a few moments, whipping her long pink hair in front of her face. She pushed it back with a rough movement, as if she were disgusted at the length. She picked up again, this time her voice stronger than before.

"I don't place much importance on dreams either. What I do have though, is hope. I hope to become a great ninja, one that is respected and doesn't stand on the sidelines. I hope that I will be able to have the power to protect the people I care for. And more than anything else..." She lifted up her head, her green eyes flashing.

"I hope for a good future."

Naruto gave her a look of pure adoration. _Sakura-chan is so cool! _He thought. Even Sasuke decided to spare her a glance.

Kakashi just smiled underneath his mask.

_Well, well. Maybe there is hope for this team yet._

A resounding slap took him away from his rumination. Both of Sakura's hands covered her face, and she crouched down in a position that signaled embarrassment. A flush of color crept up her neck.

Her voice muffled, she said, "I also like..." and from there her speech became an inaudible mumble that Kakashi strained to hear.

"Uh, sorry Sakura, could you please repeat what you said? I don't think any of us quite heard that."

She widened up her hands so that she could peer through her fingers. The skin beneath was bright red, and Sakura looked as though her greatest wish was to be swallowed up by the ground whole. Gritting her teeth, she managed to whisper, "I like Sasuke-kun."

"Aw man, you can't mean that, Sakura-chan!" Naruto complained, "There's nothing special about him. I'm obviously the better choice!"

Sasuke merely clucked his tongue in annoyance, told Naruto to shut up, and returned to his customary brooding position. This only riled Naruto up even further and they continued to argue over exactly who was the worst of the two.

Kakashi sighed and rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.

_Well, she is a young girl after all. Love is the most important thing in their minds at this age._

"Alright, you three!" He interrupted the fight between the two boys, "Tomorrow we will begin survival exercises. And by survival exercises, I mean that you three will be pitted against me. Let me warn you though," He paused for dramatic effect.

"This exercise has a 66 percent rate of failure."

Kakashi allowed the statement to settle over their three faces. As he had expected, they were intimidated by the numbers. Naruto's eyes bugged out and he started spouting off about how unfair this was and how he wasn't going to give up just yet. Although Sasuke did not move from his position, he could tell that there was a nervous glint in his eye. Sakura was facing the ground again, so Kakashi couldn't really tell what she was thinking. He felt that there was a good chance that she was equally frightened as the others though, if not even more. It was times like these that he enjoyed being a instructor. Kids were just so easy to scare.

"So that's it for today. We'll meet here tomorrow in the morning. Bring all the tools that you think you'll need. And I suggest that you don't eat breakfast, unless you feel like throwing up," Kakashi finished.

With one last, long look at his new cell, he disappeared in a poof.

Upon his absence, Naruto leapt up immediately and started muttering. Little snippets of words could be heard, such as "I'm...hokage" and "...kick hi...ass!" Sakura watched him intently, her face amused. Out of her peripheral vision, she could see that her other teammate had already gotten up and started to leave. She turned quickly so that she could face his direction.

"Sasuke-kun!" She called. The raven-haired boy stopped in his tracks, and looked over his shoulder. A scowl was etched on his face. Being told that there was a high possibility that he might fail the next day did not put the Uchiha in a good mood. It didn't help that he was going to have to watch and make sure that the other two didn't drag him down. The glare on his face intensified. If she was going to ask him out on a date again...

Sakura stared at him. As the seconds passed by, his facial expression grew more and more impatient. Finally, she sighed and said, "Nevermind. Good luck on the exercise tomorrow."

Sasuke scoffed in reply and without a second glance, he began to walk back towards his compound.

She continued to stare in his direction until she felt a faint tugging on her arm.

"Hey Sakura-chan... if you're not busy right now, do you... maybe want to go get ramen with me?" Naruto's face turned a light shade of pink as he blurted out the last few words. Sakura looked blankly at him for a moment, and then raised her hand towards his head. Fearing the worst, he closed his eyes and flinched, waiting for what was probably a crushing blow.

The "crushing blow" turned out to be a light tap instead. He opened his eyes and saw her smiling softly at him. "Sorry, Naruto. I think I'm going to go to the library and see what I can do to prepare for tomorrow. Maybe some other time."

Naruto beamed with happiness, glad that she hadn't totally rejected him like she usually did. It even seemed like she would be up for a real date sometime in the future! With his day ending on a high point, he then quickly said good-bye to Sakura and ran back to his apartment to train for the upcoming day.

The pink-haired girl watched him leave, her smile widening a little bit as Naruto almost tripped in his hurry to get to his destination. Once he had gone out of her sight, however, her smile faded until only a pained expression remained. She turned around in the direction of her own home, immersed in her thoughts, and slowly began to walk.

* * *

There were many expectations that came with being a shinobi. For starters, they should be efficient, strong, and discreet when the situation called for it. As a weapon of the village, one was expected to become a ruthless killer at a moment's notice. If a shinobi were unfortunate enough to be caught in enemy territory, they were supposed to keep their loyalty to the village, even if the result of that was interrogation, torture, or death. So really, pain was not an issue.

_But if that were the case,_ Sakura thought, _why did it hurt so much right now?_

Seeing Team Seven gathered together on their old training grounds, being formally introduced to her sensei, and being fed lines that were almost _exactly_ the same... it was almost too much to handle. It was an emotional pain that no one had ever deemed important enough to tell her how to deal with. After all, people usually didn't hand out explicit instructions on how to handle being sent back into the past.

And if Sakura hadn't been sent back to the past, what exactly could this situation of hers be called? When she had dropped into this older version of Konoha a couple of days ago, she had been under the mentality that someone had dropped a cruel genjutsu upon her in the middle of the war. This idea had lasted until her repeated attempts at dispelling the genjutsu had failed, and she took it upon herself to stab herself in the thigh with a kunai. Needless to say, that had hurt like hell and she wound up having to use up the majority of the chakra her puny twelve-year old body had to offer to seal up the cut.

All she could remember before all this was that she had been dodging rubble and enemy attacks along side Kakashi-sensei, healing various ninja whenever she could. The huge, monster-like being that the shinobi from all five countries were facing had been shooting big balls of explosive energy to places far enough that one would need a Hyuuga's eyes to see. In the last moments of being in her time, Sakura recalled hearing some strangled cries and gasps of horror from the surrounding ninja as they looked up into the sky. It was only then that she had noticed one of those balls of energy heading straight towards them.

So if she hadn't been sent back to the past, then she was most certainly dead. Sakura much preferred the former.

_Shannaro! _Her alter ego howled. _I'm way too young to die!_

Mentally agreeing with her, Sakura continued her leisurely stroll back towards her house. In a couple of minutes, she reached her front door and made her way up towards her room. It was exactly the same as the one she had in her time, only her many medical books and various equipment had been replaced with perfumes and hair brushes. The only indication that this was the room of a shinobi was the tell-tale kunai (still crusted with her blood) she had used to stab herself in an attempt to wake up from the genjutsu. Sakura then marched up to the mirror on her dresser.

The reflection revealed a skinny, petite body with pink hair reaching towards the middle of her back. Her forehead was still a little too large for her face, and her skin was pale with the exception of the dark circles beneath her eyes. She narrowed and widened her green eyes, occasionally whipping her head back and forth quickly, as if in hopes of catching her reflection off guard, thus rendering this whole sequence a dream. But deep down in her heart, she knew it wasn't.

The only thing that prevented her from collapsing into a sobbing heap was the possibility that her being here could mean something. Something big. Team Seven had had strong bonds before Sasuke had left. It had been short-lived, yes, but to her, it had meant the world. Now that she was presented with this miraculous opportunity, she was going to use everything within her ability to save that tenuous relationship.

Even if it meant, a dull blush creeping onto her cheeks, giving up her pride. Admitting her crush on Sasuke in front of Team Seven again was mortifying. Not just that, but it was infuriating that this was what she amounted to when she was younger: a love struck girl chasing after an unrealistic dream, when what she really should have been doing was training to become a better ninja. Sakura's current self knew better than this, but her teammates did not. As such, it would be in her best interest not to stir any unwanted attention with wild personality changes.

Though she supposed, narrowing her eyes at her reflection, some smaller changes could be made.

She then gathered up her long pink hair, grabbed the sole kunai on her dresser, and cut.

* * *

My very first story. Please tell me what you think!


	2. Team Discord

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. It belongs entirely to Masashi Kishimoto.

* * *

Sakura's current circumstances were less than ideal, this she already knew. There were a number of things that had to be corrected before she was capable of even starting to make changes in this timeline. First of all, there was the problem of her body. She had attempted to run five laps around Konoha in the morning, a routine that she remembered when she had first began training with Tsunade. It had been a hellish time, but it was what she had needed to do in order to increase her stamina, which was undoubtedly her biggest weakness. Her twelve-year old body, however, lacked muscle and proved to be quite untrained in the art of basic aerobic exercise; as a result, her run had been full of laborous breathing, as well as multiple painful stitches. In the end, she had settled for a semi-stilted walk.

Sakura settled her chin on top of her crossed arms, her face screwed up in contemplation. And so what if she got back into shape? It wouldn't matter if she was in top form if she didn't use it in tandem with her medical jutsu or super strength, both of which were unknown to the shinobi of the past (although, Sakura admitted, any conditioning upon this body was better than what it was now).

She tried imagining herself punching and splitting up the ground in front of her current teammates, or healing up a life-threatening wound for one of them. Less than two seconds later, Sakura let her head smack repeatedly on the hard ground in dismay.

_Straight to Morino Ibiki I would go, _she thought bitterly, _that is, if they didn't all stab me with their kunai first._

Those skill sets were specific to Tsunade-sama, whom if Sakura remembered correctly, had left the village for a considerable amount of time before she came back to lead Konoha. Any usage of the Fifth Hokage's skills would automatically scream of suspicion; not exactly the best situation for what she wanted to do.

And really, what was it that she wanted to do? She wanted to avoid the war, that was for certain. Sakura's last moments in her time had consisted of blatant violence and brutality. Her side had surely suffered some major casualties. If there was anything that she could do to prevent unnecessary deaths, she would definitely try her best to do so. It would be hard though, especially since she had no idea what the status of the Konoha ninjas were, besides Kakashi-sensei. Any of them, Naruto, Ino, Shikamaru, Neji, Chouji, Tenten, could have been hurt...

_And Sasuke-kun... _a quiet part of her mind spoke out.

Ah, yes.

Things always had a way of coming back to the defective Uchiha.

The pink-haired girl propped herself up into a sitting position, and started tying a multitude of explosive tags together with her kunai. She hadn't seen the Sharingan-wielding boy during the war and her most recent memories of him were less than welcoming. Call her as dense as Naruto, but Sakura believed that Sasuke was not solely to blame for his actions in the past (or in this case, the future). He had been subjected to multiple bad influences and a traumatizing childhood. Sasuke was an impatient guy too, so he took the path that he thought was shortest. Unfortunately, it had been the worst one, decorated with loneliness, darkness, and freaky snake men to boot.

Her eyes lit with determination. But things were different now. Regardless of whatever time she was in, she would march on with the same goal: to save Sasuke. He didn't have to leave Konoha in order to seek his revenge, nor did he have to go to Orochimaru to gain the power he thought he so needed. She would make him see that, damn it! Although this time, Sakura realized, she didn't have the advantage of having the blond, aspiring Hokage by her side. The thought of it caused a hollow pang of loneliness to resonate throughout her chest.

It was odd though. Even with all these things she had to do, she felt surprisingly at peace for the moment. Birds were chirping back and forth, making a pleasant background noise as she continued with her task of adding cherry blossom petals on top of her explosive tags. It was a sunny day but with her current position in the shrubbery, it blocked the more intense rays, making for a comfortable working station. The accompanying trees lent the deep, musky smell of tree sap. She could feel each individual muscle in her body relaxing. For once, she could see why Shikamaru was always so content to just sleep the days away. In the right place, it seemed as if the world and all its troubles just melted away...

"One Thousand Years of Death!" a deep, male voice cried. Naruto's answering howl permeated throughout the forest.

Sakura stifled a laugh, her lips quirking up in merriment. She was grateful, at least, that some things never changed. Getting up quickly, she packed up her tools and placed them into her pouch. The sounds of battle were slightly louder on her left, so she turned towards the opposite direction and headed deeper into the forest.

After several long minutes of brushing past various tree branches and assorted greenery, she settled in a clearing where she was able to close her eyes and tried to get a sense of where everyone was. Naruto's agitated chakra flared down by the clearing where, she thought drily, he was probably already tied up by the log or caught in a simple trap. She would have to go release him at some point. Sasuke, on the other hand, was fleeing into the forest like she was, only in a direction slightly further north than herself. A crease appeared on her brow when she noticed that Kakashi's chakra could not be felt.

That was probably for the best though. Sakura knew that the whole point behind this exercise was teamwork, so facing him head on was pointless. Even if she somehow managed to retrieve the two bells, she doubted that Kakashi would be satisfied with the lone-wolf approach. Sighing, she changed her direction so that her path would cross with Sasuke.

Just before she set off, a soft rustle in the bushes sent her on her guard. Whipping out a handful of shuriken, Sakura inched forward towards the noise. If memory served her correctly, then she had an inkling as to what it might be. Lo and behold, a bleeding Sasuke stuck full of weapons emerged from behind a tree.

"Sakura... h-help me," he pleaded.

She tilted her head, green eyes staring at his form for a few moments. Funny how when she was younger, she had fell for this imagery so quickly. Now that she had more experience, it was painfully obvious what it really was. She then clasped her hands together and muttered, "Kai." Immediately, the genjutsu disintegrated into a pile of leaves. Sakura kept a close eye on the accompanying trees.

"Sasuke-kun would never allow himself to be beaten so easily," she stated loudly.

"Is that right?" Kakashi's voice rumbled from right behind her. Her back went rigid and she twirled around, throwing her shuriken at him in the process. The masked ninja just stepped to the side, dodging the whirling weapons. He commenced with his reading of Icha Icha and let out a girlish giggle, the contents of the book amusing him to no end.

Of course, just when she had made the decision to not engage him in battle, he would show up ready to go. Kakashi-sensei always did have the worst sense of timing. Then again, she didn't get past the genjutsu in her previous time, did she?

Sakura narrowed her eyes as she continued to watch her teacher read his beloved orange book. Hate it as she might, Kakashi underestimating her was the best advantage that she had. He may have been wanting to gauge her skills in battle first, but that wasn't what was on her agenda. At least, not right now. In order to pass the test, she had to get to the other two first. Somehow, she was going to have to think of up of a plan to buy her some time and retreat.

* * *

Haruno Sakura. A girl from a civilian family, she had no particular talents to speak of; at least, not according to the files he had received when he first took on the task of handling the three genin. In the academy, she had always done exceedingly well on written tests and just adequate on actual physical exams. He guessed that this was due to an improper use of time, as well as a propensity for following Uchiha Sasuke around.

Which was why Kakashi was slightly surprised when the pink-haired girl was able to dispel genjutsu he had wrought upon her. It was a simple technique, but he had half-expected her to faint at the distress of seeing Sasuke in a wounded state. The girl was mentally stronger than he had originally thought, he would give her that.

With his face still facing his precious book, Kakashi surveyed the girl's appearance through his peripheral vision. Sakura was biting her lip, and from the transparent expression on her face, thinking about what she should do next. He noticed that she wore different clothes today, opting instead for a shorter version of the top she wore before, as well as a tan, apron-like skirt. Her legs were encased in sturdy, black boots while her hands were covered by dark gloves. Even her hair was shorter than before.

Kakashi didn't have much time to ponder kunoichi and their fickle wardrobe choices when Sakura suddenly dashed towards him. It seemed as though it was going to be a full frontal assault until she darted towards a tree trunk at the last moment, using it as leverage to propel herself above his head. From there she whipped out several shuriken and threw it at him.

He responded by dodging, making his way towards the place where she would land. His book still in one hand, he used his other arm to pluck her wrist out of the air.

Once her feet reached the hard surface, Sakura attempted to use the momentum from her descent to flip Kakashi over her shoulder. This turned out to not be such a good idea since Kakashi's feet only momentarily left the ground, and just a couple of inches at that. She scowled. This body was definitely going to be the death of her!

"Oi, Kakashi-sensei," she grumbled through gritted teeth, "Did you know that you're actually kind of heavy? Really, you might want to invest in a diet sometime."

"Now, now Sakura," he chided, using this opportunity to place his book on her back, "That wasn't a very nice thing to say. And I'm actually considered average among the rest of the jounin. I don't suppose you've ever met a member of the Akimichi family though? Now, they are -"

Kakashi was cut off abruptly when she switched from pulling forward to pushing backward and hooked one of her legs around his knee. He bent backwards, forced to perform a one handed back hand-spring to prevent himself from laying completely vulnerable on the ground. Sakura took this chance to disengage and aimed multiple kunai at him as he sprung back up.

Only two of the kunai ended up anywhere near him, and Kakashi sent them back to her with a disappointed frown.

"I would've thought that the academy would teach their new graduates to aim properly, at the very least. Maybe I was wrong?"

"They did," Sakura replied, staring up at him nonchalantly.

"It's possible that I wasn't paying attention at the time though," she said lightly, "Sometimes class was a bit boring, you know? Or maybe..."

One side of her lips tilted up, creating a small smirk. "...maybe I just had other things in my mind."

Only the tell-tale _swoosh _of air alerted Kakashi to the huge, incoming log that was about to hit him from the left side. He quickly performed the hand signs he needed for the art of substitution and allowed the jutsu to transport him safely out of hitting distance. He watched as the log seemingly smashed into himself before poofing out of existence to become a tree branch. Or, he amended, a now very, very broken and deformed tree branch.

S_he took notice of the blind spot where my hitai-ate was and set up a trap accordingly, _he mused_, not bad, Sakura._

This time, Kakashi decided to take the initiative to attack. He leapt from his place in the trees to settle on Sakura's right side and proceeded to engage her in hand-hand combat. As they traded blows, he saw that she relied heavily on the weapons that she kept within her pouch to distract and disarm. Also noticed was the slight tremble in her arm while trying to parry some of his heavier punches. Taijutsu, it would seem, was not her forte. It would need some improvement if she wanted to continue with a close-range fighting style.

After a few more rounds, Sakura flipped, using her hands to stabilize herself, and then kicked out with her legs as if she were intent on dislodging Kakashi's head. He used his one arm to wrap around her thighs, lifting her straight off the ground so that she was left without purchase. Luckily, her knees were still left mobile and she took this opportunity to bend them backwards and place both her feet around the other arm still holding his Icha Icha book, using it as her new anchor.

Kakashi was alerted by the jingling of the bells at his waist and immediately knew what the pink-haired girl was aiming for. He made to twist to the side, so that his bells would fly out of reach. To his surprise, his feet were unable to move. He was left with no choice but throw a punch at her to prevent her from grabbing onto the bells.

Sakura dodged the incoming fist by bending herself at the waist, as if performing crunches in mid-air. Her upper body flew up, a mischievous smile widening on her face. She pulled her fist back and threw it directly towards the left side of his face. Kakashi's arm shot up to block it, when suddenly he felt a cool finger slip through the opening of his mask from the other side. His eyes widened infinitesimally.

With a mighty wrench, he flung Sakura off but not without her sliding her legs down and grabbing hold of his Icha Icha book. Imbuing her feet with as much chakra as she could, she let out a grunt and let the object soar over the trees to some unknown destination. If she had been able to use her super strength at full capacity, it probably would have ended up and over the Hokage mountain. As it was, she could only hope that it had ended in a nearby ditch, or if she was lucky, a raging hellfire where all other similar orange books lined up to be disintegrated.

Kakashi threw her a mournful glance as the genin settled back onto her feet, panting from exertion.

"Attacking me is all well and good Sakura, but that book was innocent," he complained irritably.

Sakura threw him a disgusted look as she wiped the sweat off her face. "I know what store sells that book, Kakashi-sensei. I walk past it everyday," she said drily, "It's anything but innocent."

"Even so," he muttered under his breath, "It was my only signed copy."

She rolled her eyes at his childish reply, deciding not to acknowledge that she knew he was on personal terms with the author. She turned around and walked towards the edge of the clearing, getting ready to set off. Sakura threw one last, cheeky grin over her shoulder.

"Have fun searching for your book, sensei!" she called out.

Receiving a lazily flicked kunai in response, the pink-haired girl dove back into the forest, heavy peals of laughter echoing after her.

Kakashi, on the other hand, stayed back and slowly made a round around the clearing. Not before long, a glint of an unexpected color appeared out of the corner of his eye, and he knelt down to examine it more closely. His gloved hand reached out to pick up a single strand of long, pink hair. Upon further examination, he found that the grass covering the surrounding area was strewn with numerous strands of the vibrant color. He chuckled aloud, the realization of what the girl had done finally dawning upon him.

Under the guise of pulling out her weapons, Sakura had been carefully letting bits and pieces of her chopped off hair drift down towards the grass where it could remain unseen. It explained, he thought, why she hadn't left the vicinity since the fight began. Once she had placed an adequate amount down, all she would have needed to do was thread her chakra through the hairs towards the opponent. From there, they would be immobilized, much like he had been.

The masked ninja stood back up and dropped the hair he held, watching it float towards the ground in a graceful motion. Now that the sun was starting to reach its peak, rays of sunshine broke through the canopy of leaves and hit the pink tresses at an angle that made them seem to sparkle and flash with a life of their own. The result was rather ethereal.

This next generation of genin was a bit unpredictable, he would admit, thinking of Naruto and the battle he partook in just moments ago. But it seemed as if with the right guidance, they would become valuable assets to the village, as well as fine shinobi.

_Wouldn't you agree...Obito?_

Kakashi could suddenly feel the many years of battle and hardship settle over his shoulders like a fine, invisible weight. He could feel the creak of his joints, remember the old scars that peppered his body. A small, sad smile played out over his lips, hidden beneath his mask. Carefully stuffed memories involving goggles, red eyes, and dainty hands enclosed with healing green chakra emerged from the recesses of his mind.

He allowed himself just a couple more moments to submerge in nostalgia before breaking free of its grasp. Emitting a tired sigh, he then strode out towards the forest, intent on recovering his precious book.

* * *

Sakura ran quickly, her stride powered by the adrenaline running through her veins. Her short encounter with Kakashi-sensei had been her first proper battle in days, and it had been surprisingly invigorating. It was a real shame that she hadn't been able to pull off his mask, but there would be time for that later. At the very least, she was able to buy herself some time by throwing away his book. A smug expression fell over her face, thinking back to how she had cleverly saved her slashed hair just in case she needed it. Although, she grudgingly conceded, the idea had been borrowed; Ino-pig had thought of the original plan when they had been fighting against each other for the preliminaries of the chuunin exam.

In her head, she whispered a brief word of thanks to her childhood friend and continued speeding towards her dark-haired teammate. Cheeks flushed with a wild energy, it was a matter of minutes before she found him sitting up in a tree, leaning against a wide tree trunk with one leg stretched out beneath him and the other bent. It was no wonder that she, as well as a mass following of other girls, had fallen for his charm. Even when deep in thought, Sasuke was the picture of teenage badass-ness, and without a single hair out of place as well.

Sakura unconsciously brought a hand up to her own wind-swept hair before revealing her presence. The Uchiha looked down at her with piercing eyes, tensing up at first before finally relaxing at seeing who it was.

She greeted him with a slight nod and a soft, "Sasuke-kun."

When he didn't reply and turned his head in the other direction, she took it as permission to climb up and get a little closer. She settled down in a crouch a safe distance away from him, letting an awkward silence blanket the space between them.

The experience in itself was quite surreal. It was odd to think that sitting not five feet away from her was the being that she knew would grow up to leave his team and Konoha, deciding by himself that they were of no use to him in his goal to kill his brother. He was the one that would allow thoughts of revenge to consume him, the one that would dawn the evil red and black clouded coat of the Akatsuki, whose organization was totally based off of collecting the bijuu and in turn, Naruto. He was the one that would draw out his sword against anyone that stood in his way.

He was also the one that would attempt to kill her.

But Sasuke had not done any of those things yet. And he never would, if she had anything to say about it. All Sakura saw right now was a boy that had a set goal in mind, but with no concrete means to achieve it. It was actually kind of hard to associate the older and more jaded Sasuke with the twelve-year old one, especially since he looked so young. Not that being becoming more evil had diminished his good looks, she thought. She doubted that Uchiha could ever look bad. Nope, she was sure that he would be stuck forever with his pale and pretty skin, regal facial features, and glowering, dark eyes...

"Stop staring, Sakura."

The female genin awoke from her reverie and found herself staring directly into the eyes that she had been thinking of, although this time they were filled with annoyance. She raised an eyebrow. Her gaze had only held curiosity, but with Sasuke being ever the condescending one, he had jumped to the wrong conclusion. Sighing inwardly, she decided that it would be easier just to go with it.

"Sorry Sasuke-kun," she said casually, lifting her hand in apology, "It's just that sometimes you're almost too pretty to be true." Just to irk him a bit more, she added a wink.

He furrowed his brow at her easy reply. Uncaring, Sakura continued with what she wanted to say.

"Anyways, the reason that I came to find you was to see how you would think about approaching Kakashi-sensei together, along with Naruto. I mean, you saw how he only had two bells, right?

Green eyes looked to him for confirmation. At his slow nod, she went on with, "What's the point in only having two bells, when there has always been three members in a cell? Honestly, it all seems like a ploy to pit us against each other, when in actuality we should be working together as a team to retrieve the bells. I think that between the three of us- after we get Naruto down, of course-, we should be able to get them quickly enough. So what do you say?"

After presenting him with her tidy explanation, an expectant look made its way up to her face. Her green eyes could practically see the well-oiled gears turning inside his plush and perfect Uchiha head. That was good. She wanted to end this charade as quickly as possible so she could focus on other impending events. A few moments later, his mouth opened, soon to utter what she was sure would be his assent to her plan.

"No."

"Good, our first plan of action should be – wait, what did you say?" Sakura's pink head whipped around to face him, her mouth agape.

"No," he repeated, irritation coloring his voice.

Doubt slowly crept over Sakura's face. "Sasuke-kun, did you even hear a word I just said?"

A scowl immediately replaced his previous expression.

"I heard everything," he stated darkly, "And your plan makes sense.

Sakura remained confused. "Okay then...I still don't see the problem."

Sasuke's dark eyes drifted over to meet hers in an unwavering look. "The problem is, you and Naruto would only get in my way."

At his words, every part of Sakura's body went still, except for a single muscle that lay in the crevices of her cheek. That area was twitching madly, so much that it was almost gaining a pulse of its own.

_I wonder, _she thought idly, _if there is a medic in Konoha skilled enough to piece his pretty face together after I smash it? Or maybe Sasuke would be patient enough to wait for me to gain the chakra I need to fix it for him...? _

Despite her inner turmoil, the pink-haired kunoichi was somehow able to maintain an outwardly calm appearance and attempted to persuade him again. With a strained smile on her face, she reasoned, "But when you look at it objectively, you really can't beat the odds. Three against one is always better than a one on one fight."

"Not when two of the three are incompetent," Sasuke sneered.

_Alright, screw our goal, _Inner Sakura cracked her knuckles threateningly_, Let's kill him right now and save ourselves the trouble later!_

As much as she wanted to give in to that idea, Sakura could only watch angrily as Sasuke got up from his seat on the tree and turned away from her in an obvious dismissal. If her weakness lay within her stamina and physical prowess, then Sasuke's definitely laid in his superiority complex. She grimaced; how on earth had he been able to move this whole time with an ego as big as his laced inside his head? Did he have to go home at the end of each day and draw it out with a syringe?

More importantly, how had she ever fallen in love with him?

After making sure that he did not leave anything behind, Sasuke readied himself to leap off the tree branch. He had barely managed to get one foot off the rough surface before he was wrenched violently backwards towards his previous perch. Ignoring the brief bolt of pain that shot up his arm (it had hurt more than he would ever care to admit), he glared at the offending appendage that had grasped onto his arm, and followed its way up to its owner's spitting green eyes.

"What," he snarled, his face murderous, "was that."

"Sometimes, Sasuke-kun, you need to learn to accept other people's help," Sakura stated calmly, but the steely glint in her eyes and her set jaw suggested that she was anything but.

"And this," she gestured towards to their surrounding environment and their exercise in general, "would be an excellent first step for you, wouldn't you agree?"

To say that Sasuke looked furious was an understatement. If she didn't know any better (and luckily, she did), she would've mistook the red glint in his eye for the Sharingan.

The boy in question edged closer to her, leaning down in a manner that she was sure was meant for quick intimidation. He uttered menacingly, "I don't _need_ any help, least of all from you and the dobe."

Sasuke meant it too. The whole time that he had been at the academy, he had been surrounded by people who had nothing important to contribute, who had complained and chattered incessantly about trivial things. As a result, he came to the early conclusion that his days there were a meaningless formality, just something he had to get through in order to accomplish his goal.

Sakura watched in silence as the dark-haired boy clenched his fist. A few moments later, she finally spoke up.

"You've always been so strong and independent, Sasuke-kun. Everything you do, you do perfectly and so many people look up to you for it. I think it's obvious that you are going to become a very capable ninja," thinking back to the many instances that Sasuke was able to rise up and exceed everyone's expectations.

"Even so," her vivid green eyes rose up to meet his, "I think there will be a time in the future when you are going to need help."

"Maybe not today, or even two years from now. But one of these days, you are going to run into an obstacle that even you can't get past. I'm sure of it. And when that time comes, I fully expect you to come to Naruto and I for help."

Her voice softened then, adding, "We're your teammates. The least you can do is have a little faith in us."

Sasuke scoffed. Faith. It was exactly the type of thing a person who had never experienced loss would say. Would she still believe in that silly word if she had her whole family slaughtered in front of her eyes, and by a brother no less? No, she wouldn't. But she would never know that, because Sakura had always been safely ensconced in her own little world, complete with a live set of parents. So really, she didn't know a single, damn thing. And now here she was, flaunting all her knowledge at him. His expression darkened. It was all so-

"Annoying," he muttered under his breath.

Sakura stiffened. The muscle that had been lying dormant in her cheek began twitching again.

The seconds rolled by languidly as the two continued to exchange heated glares. The kunoichi was contemplating the pros and cons of stabbing out the Uchiha's pre-sharingan eyes when a droll voice intervened.

"Having a lovers' spat?" Kakashi inquired innocently, "You know, from the way you guys are standing, I could almost mistake you two for page eighty-two of Icha Icha volume three..."

Sakura, finally noticing that her hand was still grasping Sasuke's elbow, whipped it away to back to her side as if she had been burned. The dark-haired boy followed suit by taking a big step away from her, widening the distance that had unknowingly closed between them.

"As if," the Uchiha said darkly. Discarding the previous conversation from his mind, he turned his body to fully face the masked ninja.

"And here I thought an elite shinobi would be able to find his genin within a matter of seconds. It took you a pretty long time, Kakashi-_sensei_." He added mockingly.

"Well, you see, I was a bit preoccupied," Kakashi sent Sakura a dull glance. She was pleased to see that his Icha Icha now sported several new grass stains, as well as a more tattered appearance overall. He shut his book with a thud and placed it gently into his pouch. His lone eye curved upward. "Don't worry though, Sasuke. You now have my full attention."

Sasuke smirked. "Good."

He then withdrew a pair of shuriken from his holster and threw it at Kakashi. The latter dodged, only to retrace his steps when an array of sharp objects released from a trap flew at him. The next several minutes comprised mainly of weapon play, and the fight was surprisingly equal. It was only when a shuriken flew centimeters away from Kakashi's groin that he decided to move their fight towards the more spacious training grounds. From there, a furious battle of taijutsu ensued.

A black look settled over Sakura's features as she stood by herself in the trees. This was entirely too reminiscent of her old days of standing in the sidelines, and there was no way in hell that she was going to let _that_ part of history repeat itself. Without another thought, she darted away in search of a better location.

She came back into view of the battle on the opposite side of the clearing, and withdrew all the explosive-tagged kunai from her pouch. Patiently waiting for an opening, she only moved to raise an eyebrow when Sasuke managed to touch one of the bells. Not much time passed until her opportunity came.

_There!_

She let her kunai fly towards Kakashi, just as Sasuke finished making the hand signs for his Katon. There was a burst of cherry blossom petals right before the resulting explosion swallowed them in flames. Various pebbles and leaves flew by, and Sakura waited until they had died down before making her way carefully to her teammate. Her insides filled with malicious glee as she saw his usual impeccable appearance marred by streaks of dirt, no doubt caused by her Sakura Fubuki no jutsu.

He, however, was less than pleased.

"I thought I told you I didn't-"

"I know, I know, you didn't need my help," Sakura placated him distractedly. Where was Kakashi-sensei? The explosion had been strong, yes, but she knew it took a lot more than that to take out the old pervert. She scanned from left and right, behind, and above.

"Sasuke!" she yelled. She ran and pushed the boy out of the way just as Kakashi's hand pushed through the ground. Their two bodies tumbled through the air until they fell and rolled to a stop. Wincing at the painful landing, Sakura opened her eyes to face the sharpened end of a kunai. On her right, Sasuke faced the same situation. The copy ninja regarded them both with an impenetrable gaze.

"That was a remarkable effort on both your parts. Unfortunately..." a shrill ringing pierced the air, "Time is up."

Sakura's head fell back to the ground and she groaned in frustration.

A few minutes later, all three members of Team 7 were gathered together in the clearing where they had first started the exercise. Interestingly enough, Sakura was the only one that was left untied from a log. She had watched as Kakashi tied up the other two, taking particular care to wrap the ropes on Sasuke tightly, less he tried to escape. Surprised by the change, she had brought her hands together to be tied up as well. Kakashi did not do so, however, and granted her with a pat on the head instead.

The explanation for this was apparent when the jounin revealed the reason behind the survival exercise.

"The whole purpose behind this exercise was teamwork. In a real mission, the chances of success are vastly increased if the members are working together. Similarly, if all three of you had came at me at the same time, it might have been possible for you to get the bells. However, there were those," he threw a pointed look at Sasuke and Naruto, "that decided that it would be better to do things on your own."

He walked over and crouched down in front of Sakura, giving her a happy smile. He stated, "Sakura over here was able to figure this out though, so as a reward she gets to eat her bento in front of you guys. After she's done eating, you all will get one more chance to show me you are ready to become full-fledged ninja."

Kakashi got up to go, pulling his book out as he walked. Almost as an afterthought, he turned to warn Sakura, "If you feed any of them, I will be forced to fail all of you. Keep that in mind."

Raising her eyebrows, she said, "Of course, Kakashi-sensei." In her mind though, she had already made the decision of handing out the food to her teammates.

He gave her one last, lingering look before disappearing. Pretending not to know what she was supposed to do, Sakura opened her bento with relish, making sure to make a big show of the food. From the corner of her eye, she could see Naruto staring enviously.

The orange-clad ninja gulped, breaking the silence by saying, "Hey Sakura-chan, did I ever tell you you look extra pretty today? I reeeally like what you did with your hair and outfit and everything! I think it looks really cool!"

"You did, Naruto," she said wryly, "Five times, in fact, while we were waiting for Kakashi-sensei to show up in the morning. And attempts at flattery are not going to get you anywhere."

She hid a smile behind a chunk of egg when his expression fell. Letting it go on for a couple more minutes, Sakura finally decided to take pity on him when he started drooling out of the corner of his mouth. As she fed him piece by piece, she could feel Sasuke's penetrating gaze landing on her. She turned and gave him a questioning look.

"You're not supposed to be feeding us," he said, a frown crossing his face.

She fed Naruto another chopstick full of food before replying, "I know, but I really don't see the harm in it. If Kakashi-sensei fails us based on whether or not I feed you guys, then he needs to go and get his head checked."

Holding up a tantalizing piece of meat, Sakura asked, "So how about it, Sasuke-kun? Want me to feed you?"

He responded by making a 'tch' sound of rejection and turned his head the other way. At that moment though, his stomach let out a big growl of hunger. Slowly but surely, two dull blotches of red appeared on his cheeks, and a wicked glint shone in Sakura's eyes.

"Why, was that a rumble that I just heard from your stomach?" the pink-haired girl asked all-too-innocently. When she received no acknowledgment, she slowly made her way towards her grumpy teammate. Once she was crouched next to him, she picked up some food and held it directly in front of his mouth.

"Open wide, Sasuke-kun," Sakura cooed, her voice full of saccharine sweetness. She poked at his lips, each consecutive poke harder than the next. Sasuke's dark eyes were full of venom, and she was sure that if it hadn't involved opening his mouth, he would have given her the verbal beating of the century. As it was, he could do nothing now but endure the torture. Naruto could only watch in awe at how ballsy Sakura had become.

"Come on, Sasuke-kun, you're going to need energy for our next test-"

Poke.

"It would be _annoying_ if Naruto and I had you faint from hunger in the middle of it-"

Poke.

"And Kami knows how hard it would be to have such an _incompetent_ teammate-"

Poke.

"-wouldn't you agree?"

And with a little more strength than was appropriate, Sakura proceeded to stab through Sasuke's mouth with the pair of chopsticks.

* * *

Wow. First time I have ever willingly wrote twelve pages without a deadline keeping me hostage. And by the gods, what a painful twelve pages it was.

I hope you enjoyed chopsticker-Sakura!

Please read and tell me what you think!


	3. Flowers for Aiglatson

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. It belongs to Masashi Kishimoto.

I would like to thank **LoveIllusions, cr8zyboy, Kimmi-chan92, classicallyclassic, Epoif1, Jasmine-.-Momo-chan, crazy reader 241, **and **Guest** for reviewing. It makes me happy to know that you guys are enjoying my story so far, and I frequently look back at them for motivation. You are all awesome!

* * *

Everything could be seen clearly through the windows of the shop.

This was a fact that Ino learned to appreciate over the years, starting back from the times when she was younger and her father would be off on missions, her mother staying back to keep Yamanaka Flowers attended. Gentle hands would plop her pudgy bottom onto a wooden stool right in front of the glass, and her mother's stern voice would warn her against leaving the seat while she went and helped out customers. Ino had never needed a warning though; she had been entranced from the moment she sat down.

It wasn't so much _who_ she saw rather than _what_ she saw that had fascinated her. With the shop planted on the corner of one of Konoha's busiest streets, her wide eyes had taken in a multitude of sights: people shopping, couples kissing or breaking up, lost children crying, vendors looking to make a good sale and occasionally harassing random individuals into buying their product. The list went on. It had been like a never-ending montage showing tiny snippet's of peoples' lives and as little as she had been, Ino had found herself enjoying the show. All those visible social interactions had been a daily lesson into the human psyche and she liked to think that it had fine-tuned her people-watching skills, as well as enhanced her powers of observation. She had loved looking out those windows, thrived on it even.

Today? Not so much.

"_Where is everybody?!" _she shrieked loudly. The sole customer in the shop, an elderly lady that had been quietly examining a bouquet of pink carnations, jumped at the sudden noise. She turned to give Ino a dirty look before trekking towards the front door and joining the Konoha masses.

Feeling slightly apologetic for scaring away her one and only customer, the blonde decided to ease her restlessness by drumming out an unsteady rhythm on whatever laid out on the front counter. Her fingers encountered the hard surface of a wooden picture frame which now contained her newest picture – the one in which she and the rest of the newly formed Team 10 stood posing for their standard team photo.

Therein itself lied the reason for her discontent. Ever since graduating from the academy two weeks ago, Ino was never happy just doing mundane activities anymore. Now that she was considered a fully-fledged ninja (her chest puffed up proudly), things like picking up the next stock of flowers or shopping with friends just didn't have the same spark that they did before. Working part-time at her family's place was something she usually enjoyed. In this instant, however, she felt like a wild animal that had been thrust into a cage composed of familial obligation and commitment. The windows in which she had spent a substantial part of her childhood looking out of now served as a barrier separating her from the outside world.

No, what Ino needed was _action_. It didn't have to be anything extreme. Hell, she would be happy to go on another D-class mission with Shikamaru, Chouji, and their twelve-pack a day smoker-sensei, even if all they'd done so far was weed gardens and babysit some old saps' grandchildren. Anything to escape the utter boredom that was called her life at the moment.

_Ding ding ding_

The bell attached to the side door rang out clearly throughout the store. Mentally uttering a groan, Ino pasted on a wide smile and readied herself to help another person find the perfect bouquet for their significant other or to be questioned about specific flowers and their interpreted meanings. One time, a man had made her go over what each and every piece of floral botany in the store meant before finally deciding to leave empty-handed. Ugh, those people were the worst.

"Welcome to Yamanaka Flowers," she said in a perky yet mechanical voice. Her gaze locked onto the hydrangea-covered partition from which her newest patron would undoubtedly emerge from. "Just to let you know, our most popular flower arrangements are lined up in the front and the discounted ones are placed in the back. We also received a new shipment of gardenias and freesias just this morning so if you want to order-"

Her speech cut off when a shock of soft pink hair hovered over the divider, slowly making its way towards the front counter. Ino's eyes narrowed; there was only one person in all of Konoha that had that shade of hair. Sure enough, Sakura appeared from behind the partition a few moments later, her head turning back and forth as she took in the interior of the shop. Once she caught sight of Ino, the girl's bright green eyes widened and her mouth settled into a perfect 'O' shape.

"Forehead-girl," Ino greeted warily.

"Ino..." Sakura's voice came out raspy, and she coughed a little to clear it up. "Ino-pig."

She didn't feel like shouting across the room so she beckoned to Sakura to come closer. The pink-haired girl walked slowly towards her, her eyes never looking away from her own. Once she had reached the counter, Ino waited patiently for her to speak. However, the usually talkative girl remained silent, seeming to be content with her dazed staring. Her brow furrowed.

"Mind telling me what you're doing here, Forehead? If you are here to brag about being on the same team as Sasuke-kun, I swear I will use my Mind Body Transfer jutsu on you and walk you right in front of a rolling cart."

Sakura looked blankly at her for a few more moments, an unreadable emotion flickering through her eyes. Reaching up a hand to rub the back of her neck, she then let out a sharp exhale, exclaiming, "I know it's hard to believe, but I _am _capable of walking into a shop without being a lovesick braggart, you know."

Ino snorted. "Impossible. That's like asking Chouji to give up food or for Shikamaru to become a productive person. It's just engrained in you. And let me remind you that this is _my_ shop that you've walked into. There's no way that you came here without some ulterior motive, especially since through some miracle of the gods, you've managed to be placed on the same team as Sasuke-kun."

An uncomfortable expression crossed Sakura's face before she reached into her pouch and withdrew a small scroll. "Well, you're wrong," she said shortly. "I'm here on a mission to retrieve flowers for my team's client. Now if you don't mind, I'm going to need you to hurry up and fill the order, Ino-pig."

The blonde threw her a distrustful glance before snatching the scroll out of her hands. She quickly unfolded it and skimmed the contents. Without another word, she turned her back on Sakura and began to assemble the bouquet. A few minutes passed by before she noticed that Sakura had not moved from her original spot and had instead been watching closely as she did her work. From her peripheral vision, she could also see a big red blotch on her rival's arm that had not been there before, almost as if she had pinched herself. For no particular reason, she found herself slightly bothered by the girl's observant behavior.

"Do you mind?" Ino said snidely, flapping her free arm in an attempt to get the other girl to look somewhere else. Bemused, Sakura made a big show of looking away from her. It was only when she had turned completely around to face the anterior of the shop that Ino was satisfied enough to go back and finish her bouquet. Her delicate fingers moved automatically from years of experience, and she allowed her mind to wander as she gazed out the side window.

The crowds outside had thinned out somewhat and a fashionably-dressed lady walked by close to the shop, both hands holding bags stuffed full of clothes. Ino stared wistfully at the purple kimino that she wore. The silken material would no doubt have looked better on herself, of course, but part time employees at a flower shop could only earn so much. Her envious turquoise eyes followed the woman as she approached the corner of two buildings, readying herself to lose sight of that delightful piece of clothing when the lady suddenly backed up in apprehension. The reason for this was apparent when a trio of girls around Ino's age emerged from the shadows, their faces sneering and full of contempt.

A spark of recognition lit through her as she observed the dark-haired, snobby looking ring leader and her posse. Ino knew these girls. They had been Ino's old classmates at the academy and were some of Sasuke's most fervent admirers. Even though they shared the same interest as Ino, however, she had never gotten along with them. They had simply been too overbearing, fanatical, and rude.

A sense of injustice blossomed within her as she witnessed them heckle the woman outside. Of all the indecencies in the world, it was bullying that riled her up the most. There was just something about preying on the weak that hit her the wrong way; it had been like that ever since childhood. Her eyes narrowed dangerously as she debated leaving her post in order to give the clique a piece of her mind, or maybe even a little more than that. Her mother _did _present her with a new pouch of shuriken after all...

"-do you feel about your new sensei?"

"What was that, Forehead?" Ino said distractedly.

"I said, how do you feel about your new sensei?" Sakura repeated. Momentarily forgetting the situation outside, Ino turned to face her rival, only to find her looking intently at the Team 10 photo on the counter.

"Why are you asking?" The blonde asked suspiciously. "Is this all part of your ploy to find my team's weak points or something? Or maybe now that you've scored the hottest guy in the class, you want to see who has the better teacher too?

Sakura looked up and scowled, the first visible sign of irritation she had shown since the beginning of her visit. "Does everything have to be a contest with you? I was just asking out of curiosity, that's all. Stop being so paranoid."

Slightly miffed by her assumption (she was not paranoid!), Ino decided after a quick scan of Sakura's grumpy countenance that she was telling the truth. "Well," she said slowly. "Asuma-sensei is alright, I guess. He smokes like a chimney but he's pretty laid-back. Or maybe he is that way because he smokes? Anyways, he made pretty clear what he thought of us and what our weaknesses were on the first day." Her eyebrow twitched as she thought back to when her sensei had blatantly called her a 'loud mouth'. "I suspect that he has a crush on that one red-eyed jounin too. You know, the one lady that Hinata and that dog Kiba got assigned to? It's completely fine with me but I wish he would spend some more time training us. So far, all he's done is play shogi and pick some lame missions. Although there was one time that he took us all out to barbecue and paid the bill. With Chouji on our team, I found that rather commendable."

Ino neglected to mention how Asuma-sensei had wailed piteously after the meal, clutching his then-empty wallet to his chest in a heartbroken manner. It had been very unmanly, she thought, and it was a moment best hidden – for both their sakes.

"That's great, Ino," Sakura said softly, after having listened quietly the whole time. "I'm glad."

"What about you?" Ino inquired, leaning over the counter to nudge the pink-haired girl with an elbow. "I heard from Asuma-sensei that your teacher is some kind of super genius, but that he can be a bit late when going places..."

"He has no concept of time," Sakura said flatly. She pointed a finger to a clock on the wall to remind Ino that 'time' was also something she had little of. Ino got the message and went back to putting the finishing touches to her flower arrangement. "I still like him though. He's patient with us."

The blonde let out a loud "Ha!" as she carefully removed some stray thorns off a rose. "You're telling me that there is a person in Konoha that is actually patient enough to deal with the dead-last?" she yelled over her shoulder.

"Don't call him that." The words came out lightly but underneath it all lay a current of warning. Ino turned with both eyebrows raised only to see Sakura move towards the front of the shop, close enough so that her breath fogged up the glass. Mindlessly pulling off the last few thorns, she thought questioningly to herself: since when did Sakura ever defend Naruto, or for that matter, acknowledge his existence? It was odd and she took a long glance at and past her rival's back, vaguely registering that the bullies from before now seemed to be staring straight back into her shop at Sakura as well.

"It's weird that you say that, Forehead, because I don't recall a time that you've ever been nice to Naruto. You must have been through some major team bonding in order to talk like that. Or could it be..." Ino pretended to cover up a coy smile. "...that you like him in _that_ way?"

Green eyes regarded her with amusement. "It's not like that at all, pig. Once you start working with Naruto, you will know. Underneath that loud exterior, he's actually a useful and hardworking guy. I wouldn't be surprised if someday he finally manages to become Hokage."

Ino let out a short bark of laughter. "Whatever, Sakura. I suppose if I had Sasuke-kun on my team, I would be able to handle the third-wheel too, no matter who it is."

She was almost done tying the final ribbon around the floral arrangement when the steady _tak tak _of ninja sandals made her look up. Sakura strode purposefully towards her, her face full of seriousness. "He's not as good as you think he is, you know," she said solemnly, her feet coming to a stop.

"Who?"

"Sasuke-kun." Upon seeing Ino's outraged expression, the kunoichi sped up her talking. "He may seem to be the perfect being right now, Ino, but he also has some faults of his own. He can be arrogant and condescending, and he doesn't care much for teamwork. In that aspect, I think he could learn a lot from Naruto. If I had to describe Sasuke-kun in one word, it would be 'vengeful'," Sakura almost seemed annoyed at this part. "And the reason I am telling you this is because you seem to mention him a lot. You two wouldn't go well together. So next time we see each other don't be so jealous of me-"

"I'm not jealous!" Ino protested hotly.

"-because you have a great team right here," Sakura rapt her knuckles smartly on the wooden-framed photo on the counter. A thick silence then drifted between the two like the quiet falling of snow after a blizzard. After a few moments, Ino's fiery glare dimmed down to embers as she soaked up her rival's words. Her turquoise eyes studied Sakura intently.

"Something's different about you, Sakura," she murmured to herself. Her sculpted brows knit together as she contemplated what it was that was giving her such a nagging feeling.

The aforementioned girl stiffened for the briefest of moments before laughing nervously and throwing Ino a big 'you must be stupid' look. "Isn't it obvious?" she said, motioning towards her figure. "My clothes have changed. Don't tell me that you weren't able to notice that; we _are_ kunoichi after all."

"That wasn't what I meant!" Ino snapped, crossing her arms. "And for your information, I noticed your little wardrobe change the moment you walked in! You've done a poor job by the way. Don't you know Sasuke-kun likes girls with long hair?"

Sakura replied simply, "I know."

"Hmph. As long as you know, I guess," Ino sniffed. She reached over and snagged the bouquet that she had been working on and placed it next to the cash register. "Here's the order that you need. Just be grateful that you came here and not some other floral shop. They wouldn't had been able to finish it in half the time that I did."

"Right. Nothing but the best from Yamanaka Ino, Konoha's top floral expert," Sakura said with a roll of her eyes.

Ino smirked. "Damn straight. Now you better get out of here before that huge forehead of yours blinds me permanently."

"I highly doubt that would happen, Ino-pig. Not with that layer of fat hanging down from your brow."

The two girls bared shark-toothed grins at each other. Ino's disappeared, however, when she spared a quick glance outside. "You should probably leave through the side door though. I think a group of old classmates are anxious to see you... and I don't mean that in a good way."

At her warning, Sakura peered through the glass and caught a glimpse of the wolf-pack waiting for her to come out. She sighed tiredly, muttering something about stupid teammates, how they always had to come out on top, and retribution. Ino didn't bother trying to make sense of what she said. To her surprise, the pink-head just secured the flowers in one arm and walked towards the front door. "It's okay, I'll be fine," she said confidently. "I've handled much worse than a handful of pre-teen girls."

"Are you sure...?"

Hints of smirk played around Sakura's lips. "Really, Ino, if anyone else had been listening in, they would've thought that you were concerned for me."

The blonde spluttered, ready to argue that she was definitely _not_ concerned when Sakura interrupted, saying loudly, "Besides, I wouldn't want to be late to my first C-class mission. Going out the front door will be much quicker, I think." The upward tilt to her lips turned into a full-blown smile. "It was good seeing you, Ino-pig!" And with that, she stepped out into the streets.

In the seconds afterward, Ino could only gape as her mind sorted out Sakura's spoken words. What C-class mission? As genin, they shouldn't even have access to those yet, let alone take part in them. But she knew the girl must have been telling the truth; it would be far too easy to check the mission records and figure out that it was a lie. She let out a long puff of breath and slumped down onto an empty chair. It had only been two weeks since graduating the academy and already it felt like she was falling behind. A frown of consternation showed up on Ino's face. Even Sakura appeared to be more mature and open-minded. Stronger, even. Years ago, she had relied on Ino's protection from bullies of her own. Now, she was able to charge outside and take care of them herself.

The blonde got up quietly and started to sweep stray petals and thorns into a dustpan. The only sounds within the shop were the rhythmic _swish swish _of her broom. For minutes she attempted to remain focused on her task, but Ino could not keep her eyes from straying towards the outside where her rival continued her journey down the road, followed by three less-than-discreet girls. A sinking feeling tore through her chest as she unknowingly tightened her grip on the broom, her knuckles turning white.

Darn Sakura. It wasn't just her forehead anymore; watching as the pink-haired girl walked farther and farther away, it seemed as though now even her back was larger than life.

* * *

Sorry it's been so long since I've updated! Life got in the way, as it does for all authors. Although I'm short on time, I'll do my best to get my next chapter out as soon as I can!

Until then, please read and review!


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